Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End
by 23 Enigma
Summary: Katara just can't sleep after seeing the disturbing ending of "The Boy in the Iceberg". Lucky for her, Zuko is there with an open ear and a cup of Kappa Leaf Tea.


GOLDEN SLUMBERS/CARRY THAT WEIGHT/THE END

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: the Last Airbender", "The Beatles", or anything else in this story either outright mentioned or parodied. I only say I wrote the story; that's it.

Story: takes place after "The Ember Island Players"

Summary: Katara just can't sleep after seeing the disturbing ending of "The Boy in the Iceberg". Lucky for her, Zuko is there with an open ear and a cup of Kappa Leaf Tea.

Pairings: Zuko + Katara (friendship)

Rating: PG-13 / T to be safe

* * *

"That… wasn't a good play," Zuko finally said to break the awkward silence.

"I'll say," Aang immediately responded.

"No kidding," Katara added.

Suki nodded. "Horrible.

"You said it," Toph added.

Sokka shrugged as he leaned towards Suki. "But the effects were decent!"

Everyone rolled their eyes but didn't say anything. Aang stared down at the ground. Zuko quickly glanced at Aang, sighed, and then turned away. Suki rested her head on Sokka shoulder, who decided to no longer joke around and patted her head. Katara hugged herself while Toph kicked a rock in front of her. They all just wanted to go to bed and forget about the terrible play that they had just seen.

* * *

"Katara…" Aang choked out before he coughed up a splatter of blood.

She cradled his dying body in her hands and began to cry. Katara could feel his breath slowing, getting weaker. As Aang's eyes closed for the final time, she could hear Azula laughing maniacally.

A flash of lightning tore through the air.

"Aang!" Katara shouted as she sat up from her bed.

She was drenched in sweat and her heart was beating like a drum. It was just a nightmare, she told herself. She grabbed her pillow and threw it across the room in anger. She ran her hands threw her hair and took some deep breaths.

She threw off her covers and moved to sit at the edge of the bed. She saw her pouch she had left in the corner of the room and bent a handful of water to her. She splashed her face to try and better wake herself up. She let the water drip off of her for a few seconds before shaking her head and then bending the water back into her pouch. She took a deep breath and then sighed. She knew sleeping in the Princess room was a bad idea. After all, the last person who has slept in this room was Azula. She had really drawn the short end of the stick on who got to stay in which room.

She walked outside and peered down the hall. As she had expected, everyone's room was dark so they were all asleep except for her. She sighed. She really wanted to talk to someone, but she really didn't want to wake anyone up. So she decided to instead make herself some tea.

As she turned the corner, she saw the kitchen wasn't dark at all, but that there were several candles lit, keeping it well illuminated. Odd, Katara thought to herself, I thought I had put out all the lights before I went to bed.

As she walked into the kitchen, she saw Zuko sitting at the table, calmly staring at his cup of tea. "So apparently I'm not the only one who couldn't sleep."

Katara sat down next to him. "I was sleeping in Azula's old room. That's reason enough for nightmares."

"Yeah? Try living with her," he responded with a grin. "Want a cup of tea?"

"Yes, please," she said. "What kind did you make?"

"I just grabbed the first bag that I saw," he replied as he flipped it over to read its label. "Kappa Leaf Tea."

"Sure, always good to try a new flavor of tea," Katara said.

Zuko chuckled. "You sound like my uncle."

He poured her a cup and handed it to her. "So…"

"So…" she replied as she took a sip.

"'The Boy in the Iceberg'?"

She put the cup down and looked away. "Yeah…"

"What's wrong, Avatar's girl? Not enough hope for you? Going to start tearbending on me?"

"Ha ha," she said sarcastically. "How can you say that? I must reclaim my honor!" she responded, trying her best to have her voice sound like him.

He shook his head, but he has the hint of a smirk. "So, what's wrong?" he asked. "Wasn't the play supposed to be all laughs?"

Katara absent-mindedly fiddled with her hair. "I don't know…"

Zuko silently nodded, but let her speak her mind.

She coughed into her hand. "The ending got to me… It was pretty… dark…" she said. "It made me remember some really bad times… When Azula shot down Aang with her lightning in Ba Sing Se."

Zuko crossed his arms. "Um…" he started. "Look… Katara… I'm sorry."

She looked at him. "Why?"

"I never properly apologized to you guys for that. Azula may have shot Aang, but that day… it was all my fault. I betrayed everyone and I created the opportunity." He grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

She smiled. "I know you are. And as much as we all regret what happened, we know you've changed, Zuko. You're good now."

He took another sip of his tea, obviously still replaying that day over in his head.

"Besides… if we're going to be guilt-tripping about what happened in the Crystal Catacombs, you should count me in too."

"You?" Zuko asked, surprised at what he had just heard. "Why in the world would you feel guilty? If I recall correctly, you were the one who saved Aang from dying."

Katara crossed her arms. "That may be the case, but it's not your fault everything went wrong that day. It's mine."

He stared at her in disbelief. "I don't follow."

She sighed. "I saw you at that tea shop the day before. And I was so stupid, I didn't even recognize that it was Azula pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior, so like an idiot I told her that you were there. In an instant, I ruined your chance of living a peaceful life and I just tipped off our biggest enemy."

"Yeah, okay. That's one tiny mistake. Compared to my gigantic mistake. There's still no way it's all your fault," Zuko said.

"Well… Aang told me that he left the Guru's training so that he could come rescue me. So if he hadn't have left early, he would have been able to control the Avatar State for his fight with Azula."

Zuko shrugged. "Aang chose his own destiny. You can't be responsible for his actions. Again, you're blaming yourself for stuff that was out of your control."

Katara brought her knees up to her chest and hugged herself. "No, I know that the last part was my fault. The Spirit Oasis water." Zuko raised an eyebrow but let her continue. "Sure, the water was what brought Aang back to life, but… the thing is… I shouldn't have had to use it on Aang in the first place… I should have used it on you."

She looked forlornly off into the distance. "If I had just used the Spirit Oasis water on you, cured your scar, healed you… then you wouldn't have sided with Azula. You would have fought on our side. The fight with Azula never would have happened. And Aang wouldn't have been shot by lightning."

He shook his head. "So you're saying that the reason that I made the worse decision of my life, something that I will never be able to fully forgive myself for, was not my fault, but was actually your fault?"

Katara sighed. "Yeah, it was… I could see it in your eyes when we were talking. That look of hope you had when I said that I could heal your scar. You were so close to becoming good right there. And if I had used the Spirit Oasis water on you… then that terrible day wouldn't have happened."

Zuko didn't immediately say anything. He instead took a long drink from his cup of tea, finishing it. He then turned to Katara and started laughing.

"Hey!" she said, her cheeks now slightly red. "Here I go, pouring my heart out to you about how I feel like a failure, and you laugh at me!"

He waved his hand, but was still chuckling. "No… no… I'm not laughing at you!"

"It sure sounds like it!"

"I'm really not," Zuko said. He finally contained his laughter. "It's just… ever since what happened in the Crystal Catacombs, I've been carrying so much guilt. And knowing that someone else also feels like a piece of komodo rhino dung… someone who did good things that day… I don't know… I can't help but laugh."

"I guess we all feel bad because of what happened in Ba Sing Se…" Katara said.

"Honestly, I feel a lot better knowing what you told me just now. It's good knowing I'm not alone in how I feel. In fact, it almost feels like that weight has finally lifted."

"Yeah… same…" She finished her cup of tea.

"Uncle was right," Zuko said. "Tea really is good to share with friends."

"It is… Well, thanks for staying up with me and letting me talk about depressing things."

He smirked. "We really should meet again under happier pretenses."

"Yes, the death of loved ones isn't really a cheery topic."

As Zuko stood up, he turned to her. "Don't worry, I'll clean up. You can go to bed."

"Are you sure?"

He smiled. "Go on… Avatar's girl."

She couldn't help but return the smile. "Okay… Goodnight…"

As she left the kitchen, she stuck her head in for one last comment. "Honor!" she bellowed as she waved her arms in the air.

She chuckled as she headed back to her room, but as she rounded the hallway, she walked right into someone.

"Ow! Who is that? Watch where you're going!"

"I'm blind!" Toph responded.

"Oh… right…" Katara said. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you."

"No worries. Water under the earth-bridge," Toph said as she yawned. "Besides, I can probably 'see' way better at night than you guys can."

Katara nodded. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I just woke up; I'm on my way to the bathroom," Toph responded. "What about you? And why do you smell of… Kappa Leaf…?"

"Oh… I couldn't sleep," Katara said. "So I had a cup of tea with Zuko."

"Zuko? He's up too?"

"Yeah, we just had a nice chat, but he should be headed back to bed real soon as well."

Toph shook her head. "Man, it seems like it's always you and him hanging out nowadays. You two have the weirdest dating life. It's all romantic midnight adventures with you two."

"Toph!" she said, louder than she should have considering everyone just inside their rooms was still asleep. "I'm not dating Zuko!"

"Oh, I know that, Sweetness," Toph said with a smile. "But it is just way too much fun to kid you and him for that."

"Don't call me that! I hate that nickname! And why must you have fun at our expense?"

"How cute… you said 'our'… meaning you and Zuko!" Toph said, trying to stop from giggling.

Katara groaned. "Really now… You're totally misreading things!"

"You think I'm the one who's misreading things? So it's just a coincidence that 'The Boy in the Iceberg' had that scene in the third act with the Painted Lady possessing you, the Blue Spirit possessing Zuko, and then the two of you singing that super catchy love song?"

Katara blushed. "Yes! None of that is real!"

Toph laughed. "What is lovelier than the love between water and fire? What is lovelier than the love between hope and honor? For nothing shall ever drown the flames of Zutara! And nothing shall ever dry the oceans of Zutara! Forever and ever, Zutara!" Toph sang out, reciting the lyrics from the play.

Katara shuddered in a mix of anger and horror. "That play was a travesty, and that 'Zutara' song made me want to rip my ears off!" Katara said to Toph, quickly glancing at the bedroom doors, hoping that they remained shut and that no one heard Toph sing. "We're not dating and 'Zutara' doesn't exist!"

Toph yawned with a smile. "Tell that to the audience, Sweetness."

"Goodnight, Toph," Katara said as she headed off to her room, and very happy that Toph couldn't see that her cheeks were flushed. "And no more 'Zutara'! Okay? It's over now! I've quashed your silly rumors! The end!" she said grumpily as she shut her door.

Toph chuckled as she walked away. "This is so not the end…"


End file.
